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Tigre de montagne
.]] : Other names: Biscoro, cave lion, coq-djingé, coq-ninji, Ennedi mountain tiger, Ennedi tiger, gassingrâm, hadjel, Imatong tiger, koq-nindji, mountain tiger, vassoko : Country reported: , , , , , The tigre de montagne (French: "mountain tiger") or coq-djingé (Yulu: "mountain tiger") is a cryptid felid reported mainly from the mountainous regions of , the , and , described as a massive red-furred cat with long fangs. Cryptozoologists speculate it may be a living sabre-toothed cat, with which it has sometimes been identified by eyewitnesses.Eberhart, George (2002) Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology Cryptids classified as tigres de montagne *Gassingrâm ( ) *Hadjel ( ) *Imatong tiger ( ) *Vassoko ( ) A local informant of Paul Cazard also claimed that a gigantic "cave lion" existed in , which Bernard Heuvelmans speculated could be another population of tigres de montagne, or simply a legend inspired by the real tigres to the east. Description .]] The tigre de montagne is said to be larger than a lion (perhaps up to a metre and a half at the withers, or the size of a horse or a donkey), and usually has red fur with white stripes, but according to the Yulu people, there is also a melanistic or black variety. It has long, protruding teeth which extend past its lips, very long hair on its legs and paws, and is either tailless or has a very short, bushy, hyena-like tail. The gassingrâmHeuvelmans, Bernard (1978) Les Derniers Dragons d'Afrique and vassoko are additionally said to have eyes that glow like lamps or even a lighthouse during the night; the vassoko is said to have small, dog-like ears; and the hadjel is described as being maned. It lives in caves in relatively dry, mountainous regions. A predatory animal, it is apparently extremely strong, and is capable of effortlessly picking up and carrying off prey as large as an antelope, sometimes hoisting the prey onto its own back. It also has a terrific roar, sometimes likened to the bellowing of an elephant. The hadjel is said to mainly take small prey because the great size of its teeth makes it painful for it to open its mouth, and is said to be less dangerous than a lion because of this. According to some informants, the vassoko is followed around by clouds of butterflies. The long hair on the vassoko's legs and paws, or the hair of its bushy tail, supposedly eradicates any tracks it leaves, but the tracks of the South Sudanese Imatong tiger were once found. These prints are allegedly as long as those of a boy, but clawed, and show that the animal is plantigrade. The gassingrâm was also said to leave tracks larger than those of a lion. There are few discrepancies in descriptions of the tigre de montagne, the vassoko, the gassingrâm, and the hadjel; all are described as large-fanged animals bigger than lions which live in mountains and have short tails. However, the hadjel's mane and its inability to comfortably open its jaws are not characteristics of either the tigre de montagne or the gassingrâm, although it's description as being less dangerous than a lion does agree somewhat with accounts of the tigre de montagne, which has never been recorded to have attacked humans. Tigres de montagne are said to inhabit: * : Birao, the Massif des Bongos or Bongo Massif, and Ouanda Djallé * : the Ennedi Plateau, the Tibesti Mountains, "and other mountainous areas", including near Temki * : Imatong Mountains Sightings Undated Sometime before 1950, some workers toiling in the Imatong Mountains in what is now reported to J. K. Jackson that they had seen a creature unknown to them: "a big animal, bigger than a lion and very great, his head was big, with a pointed muzzle and a black mouth, armed with long canines; his general color is brown, with on the flanks vertical stripes of a yellowish-white".Jackson, J. K., "Animal Life in the Imatong Mountains" Sudan Wild Life and Sport (December 1950) Jackson, who identified the animal as a Nandi bear, passed on the description to the Deputy Inspector of Hunts at Torit, a Major Anderson, who told Jackson that, like most "Nandi bears," it was probably an abberant spotted hyena. Jackson, who did not believe that a large unknown carnivore could exist there, agreed, but the description given by the workers was identical to that of the tigre de montagne of Chad. At least two natives of Birao, one of whom was a poacher, claimed in 1960 to have encountered a vassoko at some point. One of M. H. R. Maudry's European interpreters also saw a feline he could not identify about fifty kilometres from Birao in around 1940. 1937 In 1937, Lucien Blancou was told by a village chief of Ouanda Djallé that a gassingrâm had recently been haunting the district. It was occasionally but rarely seen in the daytime, carrying off its prey to caves in the mountains. circa 1940 In 1970, when Christian Le Noël showed his trackers images of various living and extinct cats, the trackers unhesitatingly selected the image of Smilodon as the tigre de montagne, then recounted to him a notable sighting which had occured around thirty years earlier:Institut Virtuel de Cryptozoologie LE TIGRE DES MONTAGNES : DES FELINS A DENTS EN SABRE AU COEUR DE L'AFRIQUE? :"To convince me, they took me to a rock shelter cave where, according to them, there was a "mountain tiger" about thirty years ago (we were in 1970). My first tracker Djémé affirmed to have seen it with his father during a hunting party in these hills of Méllé. He and his father had managed to kill a horse antelope (300 kg) and at the time of the skinning, a "mountain tiger" had emerged from the bush to seize the trophy and had won without apparent effort, in front of both Terrified and dumbfounded hunters who had not asked for their rest and had returned empty-handed to the village." 1969 Whilst approaching a large cavern in Chad alongside an elderly native game tracker, Christian Le Noël heard a "terrible roar" which he could not identify coming from within the cavern. His tracker identified the call as that of a tigre de montagne, and refused to go any closer to the cavern.Shuker, Karl (1995) In Search of Prehistoric Survivors Theories .]] When Christian Le Noël showed his Yulu trackers colour drawings of felines including tigers, ocelots, cheetahs, snow leopards, cougars, and a prehistoric Smilodon, the trackers immediately pointed to the Smilodon as "their" mountain tiger. Le Noël notes that the trackers "cannot confuse two types of big cats, even if they have similar characteristics"; would have no way of knowing of the existence of a supposedly extinct animal like Smilodon; and points out that there would be no reason to describe a purely mythical animal as being occasionally melanistic. Philippe Coudray also notes that a short tail is a characteristic of sabre-toothed cats. Bernard Heuvelmans suggests that the tigre de montagne carries its larger prey, such as antelopes and warthogs, into the mountains in order to escape from scavengers, as its large teeth would make it a slow eater (a fact explicitly confirmed by eyewitness descriptions of the hadjel); and that its sabre teeth could be used to dig up animals such as rodents, hares, porcupines, lizards, snakes, and large insects. These smaller animals would make up the bulk of its diet.Heuvelmans, Bernard & Rivera, Jean-Luc & Barloy, Jean-Jacques (2007) Les Félins Encore Inconnus d’Afrique''Coudray, Philippe (2016) ''Guide des Animaux Cachés This would make it a sort of evolutionary counterpart to water lions, which Heuvelmans theorised are sabre-toothed cats which became adapted to an aquatic lifestyle to escape competition from other predators, and which could use their fangs to dig up shellfish. Just as the water lion would fill the niche of an animal like the jaguar, the tigre de montagne, Heuvelmans suggests, would fill the ecological niche left empty by the absence of bears in Africa. Lucien Blancou believed the tigre de montagne was the same animal as the mourou-ngou and the dilali (i.e. a water lion), but Bernard Heuvelmans rejected this theory due to the reported differences in habitat and behaviour.Heuvelmans, Bernard (1955) On the Track of Unknown Animals Similar cryptids Do you think the exists? If so, what do you think the is? Myth, folklore, hoax, or otherwise made-up Mistaken identity Living sabre-toothed cat Unknown cat *Water lions, sabre-toothed cat-like animals reported from Central Africa. *Water tigers, sabre-toothed cat-like animals reported from South America. Further cryptozoological reading *Heuvelmans, Bernard & Rivera, Jean-Luc & Barloy, Jean-Jacques (2007) Les Félins Encore Inconnus d’Afrique Notes and references Category:Cryptids Category:Africa Category:Central African Republic Category:Chad Category:Ethiopia Category:Mali Category:South Sudan Category:Sudan Category:Felids Category:Tigres de montagne Category:Theory: Living fossil - Sabre toothed cat Category:Featured